Thursday, November 03, 2011

Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"Richard Holbrooke came as a package. To know the man in full was to appreciate the most important contents. His was a unique combination of talent, intellect, energy, courage, conviction, gumption, panache, and compassion. Many of those who 'got' Richard were confident that he would, someday, receive proper credit for the contributions he made to his country and the world. However, few of us anticipated how quickly that would happen once he was gone. It certainly came as a surprise to me, and it would have been considerable consolation to him, especially since his last mission -- as President Barack Obama's and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's special representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan -- had been as thankless as it was grueling. The State Department's announcement of his death early in the evening of Dec. 13, 2010, triggered an outpouring of testimonials from around the world and from the various realms in which he had been a seismic presence: from heads of state and international luminaries; from representatives of humanitarian organizations, especially those that fought for the rights of refugees and battled against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria; and from journalists and columnists who not only wrote about him, used him as a source, and let him use them to advance his many causes, but who also saw him as a master of their trade. In those weeks of mourning, my mind kept going back two decades, to a crisp Sunday morning in the spring of 1991, near the end of Richard's long interlude on Wall Street when Republicans controlled the White House. My wife Brooke and I were spending a weekend at a home with a tennis court and pool that Richard owned in one of the plummier exurban communities of central Connecticut. After a vigorous set of Canadian doubles and a swim, we went to a brunch at a neighbor's house. Richard's eyes lit up when he saw that their recreational facilities included a trampoline on the far side of a manicured lawn." (ForeignPolicy)

"Michael's on Wednesday; the usual and not-so-usual suspects. Jammed, front and back. They were turning people away. One thing there was a big book party for William Boyd the British novelist in the backroom. Upfront among the masses there were Da Boyza Michael's: Dr. Gerry Imber, Michael Kramer, Andy Bergman, Jerry Della Femina; Maury Perl of Conde Nast; Steven Rattner; Nikki Haskell, Beverly Johnson and Morgan Fairchild all of whom are engaged in making an infomercial for a new product of Nikki's; Melanie Brandman, Lynn, Lady Rothschild, Diana Biederman, and Michael's very own Brenda Starr, Diane Clehane; Barry Diller; Herb Siegel; Kay Pick in from Beverly Hills; Jason Binn with Andrew Lauren; Joan Gelman and Joan Hamburg; Todd Meister; Edward Minskoff; Richard Bressler, Henry Schlieff, Leonard Lauder, Jolie Hunt with Jay Kriegel; Edward Minskoff, Diane Coffey, Kate Taylor, Ralph Baruch, Kurt Andersen, David Sanford of the WSJ; Lou Cona, Larry Aiken, Pamela Baxter, Joe Armstrong, Missy Godfrey, Tony Hoyt, Caroline Manzo of New Jersey Housewives or whatever it's called, everybody knows; Catherine Saxton; Ira Neimark and Marvin Traub. Bergdorf's and Bloomingdale's in a fashion and retailing heyday that is good but doesn't generate the excitement and day-to-day talk about "stores" that these two gentleman created and presided over." (NYSocialDiary)

"The Hollywood Reporter: How does this MovieTracker technology separate itself from other sites and tracking out there? Scott Robson: There isn’t really another product quite like this for movie fans. The MovieTracker isn’t based on box office performance, which is how most movie rankings are compiled. Instead, it’s driven purely by the social conversation around movies. It’s the first time that what movie fans say – on Twitter, on Facebook and in the blogosphere – really matters in a quantified way. It also allows fans the opportunity to add their voice instantly to the conversation around any given movie in the rankings, and to access the latest content for that movie—along with show times, trailers, cast and crew info and more—on NextMovie. THR: How will it work within the Viacom Networks? SR: The MovieTracker will launch initially on NextMovie.com, but it will appear soon after across multiple Viacom Media Networks properties, including MTV.com, VH1.com and the Logo sites. It’s also possible that versions of the MovieTracker at some point will appear on air, on the MTV Radio Network and more. Senior management, including MTV Music Group President Van Toffler and MTV Digital EVP Dermot McCormack have been incredibly supportive of the MovieTracker and its potential to serve both casual and hard-core movie fans." (THR)